Change For A Nickel
by Kevalier
Summary: I'm no hero. I'm not some awesome, super-powered human like the ones in Runa's comic-books. Heck, I'm not even human. Just a plain old Zigzagoon. I can't do anything special. I mean, that's just obvious. So somebody please tell me, why do I have to deal with all this? Psychic detectives, goofy cops, claustrophobic super-spies... cant handle all this... Runa...Where are you!
1. And The First Domino Falls

**This is my second shot at a Pokemon Fanfiction. I'm infinitely happier with this one compared to the last, heh. This piece is most definitely a labor of love, but I know in my heart that it's just another stepping stone on my path as a writer. That said, I'd GREATLY appreciate reviews and feedback.**

_**Enjoy!**_

* * *

><p>She told me that she hadn't kept a record of any of her exploits. None of her solo missions, or any of our adventures together were ever even written down. When I had responded with slacked jaw and tilted head, she explained that those memories just weren't the sort of thing she wanted to share with other people, that they were personal, and sacred, in their own odd way. This puzzled me even more at the time. I told her I was more than willing to write it down, that I understood her shyness, but also that there was no reason to be afraid. I told her that these stories could help make the world a better place. I smiled when I said this. She looked at me, smiling as well, and said, "Go for it."<p>

* * *

><p><strong>Case Number 1: Disappearance<strong>

Her name was Runa. She had fiery, long, dyed-red hair matched with cold, piercing, naturally blue eyes. She was probably the most hot-blooded and reckless teenager in the entire Kalos region, and she knew it. She was always the most pumped-up in a group of people, and was always ready to fight at the drop of a hat (which she had literally done at least once). Underneath these violent and slightly over-the-top tendencies, however, was a sweet and caring person, more than willing to go out of her way to help those in need. Proof positive of this kindness would be the fact that I'm alive and well, and not dying of starvation in some back alley in Lumiose. She was a sweet soul and a shining star, which only made the world seem that much darker when she vanished. I want to say that it had been a dark and stormy night, but honestly, the moon had been out in full force with not a cloud in sight. Runa and I were tromping through the streets of Lumiose City, gleefully eating some ice cream imported from Unova. I was probably the happiest Zigzagoon in the world at that moment.

"You having fun, Nickel?" she asked.

"Hell yeah, I'm having fun!" I replied, though I knew she only heard unintelligible growls and barks. She smiled. She had a very beautiful smile. We had been walking for several minutes down North Boulevard now. With all the training we'd done earlier, most of my muscles felt like Pecha Berry jam put under a steamroller, but I'd be damned if I was going to let fatigue stand in the way between me and sharing Ice cream with Runa. The only thing that could mess with a moment like this, the only thing in the world, would have been for Runa to be upset. Needless to say, the moment was spoiled quickly. She abruptly stopped walking right in front of the Hotel Richissime. I, the ever diligent Pokémon partner, stopped too and glanced up with tilted head.

"Listen, I need to get something from out of this building, okay Nicky-boy?" Most of the people that knew us called me Nickel, but she insisted on another little pet-name for me. Something about signifying a deeper bond of friendship. I'm not sure. I hadn't been listening too hard when she said it. We were eating burgers that day, and I loved a good burger, cholesterol and ill health be damned.

"Okay," I barked, knowing she would at least be able to register the eagerness in my voice if nothing else, "let's go!"

But she just sort of stared at me.

"I, uh… I'm gonna run up and go get it myself, okay Nicky?" She sounded a bit odd, though I hadn't noticed it at the time. Ice cream, y'know?

"No way," I replied as indignantly as a Zigzagoon could, "I wanna run around in the big fancy-pants hotel too! I promise I won't chew on anything! That was a one-time thing at your boyfriend's house, I swear!" I knew full well that, being what I was, Runa had understood absolutely zip of the stuff that tumbled out of my mouth most of the time. Still, I liked to play along, partly because I liked playing, but mostly because I knew all that stuff about "Trainer-to-Pokémon relationships" and "Special Bonds" actually meant a whole lot to her. It made her smile, so I was going to do it.

"Nickel," she said, bringing out that serious edge in her voice, "I need you to stay here and wait for me like a good little boy, okay?" I could tell she was trying to be stern, but all she managed to do was look anxious… and emotionally constipated. I didn't like the vibes coming off of any of this, but I decided to trust her on this one and keep calm.

"Hurry up, okay?" I asked, plodding around in a little circle before lying down on the sidewalk. I was actually perfectly fine with her going solo, but I ducked my head a smidge to look grumpy, just to tease her. She saw through it like glass somehow, and stuck out her tongue at me.

"I should be back in a few minutes, alright? Don't quote me on that, though. I know I'll have to walk up at least like three whole flights of stairs. Anyway, I'll be right back, Nicky-boy!" she said with a smile as she stepped into the building. I didn't look back as she left, instead choosing to make a face like this one grumpy Espurr picture I saw on her laptop. I regret not saying something to her back then.

It was the last time I ever saw her.

* * *

><p>I sat out there for five minutes before things started getting boring. When I say boring, I mean <em>seriously boring. <em>The kind of boring that seems to run up on you like a ninja at midnight and drape itself all over you like a fog in a horror movie, drowning you and bathing you in its impenetrability till you choke yourself on the anxiety and unpleasantness and the dreaded icky, sticky _ennui _ of time wasted.

Okay, so maybe that was a _teensy_ bit exaggerated, but hey, the point got across, right? It was boring. Boring enough to justify me sniffing around for a Rare Candy on the pavement and gobbling it up for shits and giggles. Floor-candy securely in jaw, I'd resigned to lying on my back and gazing up at the stars, imagining every little light in the sky was an entire planet filled with food. Candy, cake, and sweets, especially. It's true, I had a sweet-tooth so strong, I got Runa and me booted from a Gym one time. I still think it was for a bogus reason. I guess I did go overboard with the licking, but c'mon, if you make barriers and traps out of gallons of honey, _what else would you expect me to do_? Anyway, I laid there for so long that I started to get drowsy. My eyelids felt heavy. I yawned once, then twice. Runa was taking an unceremonious amount of time in the hotel, and the night was only growing older. I glanced at a public clock. _8:27_, it said. Not bad, I guessed. It wasn't very late, so a five minute nap couldn't do much harm. I closed my eyes.

Opening them, I glanced back at the clock. _8:34… _Okay then. I dozed off.

Opening them again, I stared at the clock more anxiously. _8:40. _This was the part where I started worrying. Runa was unusually late. At the time, I figured she was in the bathroom or something, so panic mode hadn't quite activated yet. I mentally hit the snooze button. Oh well.

Popping open my eyes yet again, I casually rolled them over towards the clock, expecting a few more minutes to have passed.

_12:06, A.M._

_Oops._

My entire body shot up and sprung to life faster than I'd even thought possible.

"Runa?" I yelled, circling around like a Rapid Spin gone wrong. The call echoed down North Boulevard without so much as a whisper of a reply. For once, the normally bustling and vibrant boulevard was completely devoid of people, Runa included. A chill ran down my spine.

Not a second later, I'd burst through the front doors of the hotel and scanned the room. Pillars. Furniture. A snoozing receptionist. An odd, smoky scent. No Runa.

"Where is she…?" I muttered. My guts started churning inside and out, like I just ate some spoiled Poffins. A few minutes is one thing, but who leaves their Pokémon behind and goes ghost for four hours, _in the middle of the night_? I paced around a pillar, trying to clear my head and figure out what to do. I wracked my brain for something, anything that would help me find her. And then I remembered:

"_I'll have to walk up at least like three flights of stairs."_

It was flimsy, but hey, it was worth a shot. I bounded up the stairways at least three or four steps at a time, rushing past gravity like a maniac. On the third flight, as luck would have it, I crashed into an eccentric-looking young woman walking down. I looked up at her apologetically.

"Sorry Miss, I'm-"

"Shit, shit, shit..."

"-in a hurry?"

She swore in the tiniest whisper and marched past me down the steps even faster than she had before, barely even acknowledging me. I has that hat.

I couldn't help but look back at that weirdo for a quick second, wondering what was up with all that red she was wearing. But then, remembering what I was supposed to be doing, I climbed the rest of the stairs and reached my destination on the third storey.

Down the hallway, there wasn't a creature in sight, but the farthest door on the left side swung back and forth vacantly. A gut feeling told me to investigate. I ducked my head in.

The whole room was absolutely thrashed. I mean seriously, the place looked like a real live Gyarados managed to worm its' way inside and use the actual move Thrash. Almost every piece of furniture was broken to bits. Some of the walls had holes knocked into them. Dirt and debris covered the floor. The windows were smashed, the bed-sheets were burnt, and my nostrils were strangled by this rancid smell that was all over the place. I ducked my head out just as quickly as I had managed to pop it in, but something in the corner of my eye caught my attention. As I moved over to it cautiously, I thought to myself, naw, that can't be what I think it is, there's just no way. But of course, I thought wrong. There it was, Runa's bag, with the initials stitched in on the side and everything.

"Crap…this is bad. Really, really bad. Oh man…" I scampered out of the room and down the hall, shaking my head and muttering to myself. What did all this mean? Thinking wasn't exactly my forte, but even so, I found myself needing to do a whole lot of it. I needed to sit down somewhere, with no distractions, and figure this-

"Hey, you with the brown fur!"

Of course.

"You! Stop leaving and come here." The voice was clear, authoritative, and decidedly feminine. I hesitantly made an about-face, wearing an expression sitting somewhere between seething frustration and that face you make when you accidentally catch a whiff of someone's fart. I'd been thinking to myself, this is pretty much the last thing I need right now. I figured that whoever this annoying chick was, I'd brush her off quick and get back to looking for Runa. At least, that's how I thought it'd all turn out. Did I mention that thinking wasn't exactly my forte?

"Could you just back off…" I began to say more, but the words died on my tongue. Standing proudly in the middle of the hall, right by the room I'd just left, was a Pokémon. A Pokémon that, upon closer inspection, was _pissed_. Her slender green arms were tightly crossed over a thin torso with a distinctly red horn poking out the middle. Her eyes, even redder and more fiery than the shade on her horn, bore deeply into mine with the sort of passion and ferocity most Pokémon reserved for staring down prey. In fact, the glower and the moment made me feel suddenly like prey, and that just scared the crap out of me. Who was this Pokémon, and why the hell did she look ready to vaporize my ass?

The Pokémon, whom I had just remembered was called a Gardevoir, walked over to me slowly, each step taken with more grace than the last.

"I sincerely doubt the good people of Hotel Richissime would forgive me for letting a mongrel like you roam the halls, so no, I'm afraid there won't be much backing off today." Despite the powerful glare, the words tumbled out like icy cool water, as if none of this really mattered to her. What really got me though, was the way she was constantly looking me over, like she was scanning every part of my appearance for some detail, some weird tiny crumb of visual data that was playing hide-away. Something must've been off, because the longer she did that, the less passionate she looked and the more puzzled she became.

"W-who are you?" I asked, trying desperately not to look like a Deerling caught in the headlights.

"I was planning to ask you the very same thing," she said, looking into the destroyed hotel room, then back at me. The puzzlement on her face grew.

"Look, I dunno what the heck you want with me, but I was about to leave anyway. I'm actually busy right now, and I don't have time to deal with-"

"Y'know…" she reflected, cutting me off without missing a beat, "when a cagey little critter like _you_ comes romping out of a ravaged wreck like _that_-"

She pointed into the room.

"-some obvious questions tend to be raised. For example, what exactly did you steal?"

"Huh?!" Was about all I could muster. I couldn't believe what I was hearing.

"Oh, don't be coy. Zigzagoon like you are crawling around almost every corner of the globe. It's no secret that you bunch have an irritating habit of 'picking up' things that don't belong to you…" She gazed into my eyes. The passion was long gone, replaced by the kind of blank stare that humans usually reserve for crappy television shows. I glared at her all mean like, but backed away slowly.

"Whoa, there! You can't just point the finger at me like that when none of this is my fault! Heck, I'm the victim here! All I was doing was looking for- hey! Put me down!" In a flash, I found myself suspended in the air, flailing around like a Magikarp and panicking to boot.

The Gardevoir waved her finger in the air in a subdued and lazy way. She looked down at me and sighed, shaking her head.

"Stop your squirming. No amount of physical exertion can get you out of my telekinetic snare. I would appreciate it if you'd just cooperate so I can get this over with." It was easy to tell she was getting annoyed. You could hear it in her voice.

"Get what over with? What are you talking about, lady?"

"I'm putting you under arrest, of course."

"What." The shock hit me so hard, I forgot to express it. "A-are you serious?"

"Serious as a heart attack. What else am I meant to do when I stumble across an intruder _in flagrante delicto?"_

"In fragrant what-now?" I asked. She sighed.

"I've caught you red-handed. Now will you come quietly, or are you going to put up some sort of futile resistance?" Her tone made me wonder if she actually wanted me to try.

"This can't be legal…" I said, despairing, "Who the hell do you think you are?!" A wry smile showed up on her face.

"It's only common courtesy to give your name before demanding someone else-"

"Yeah, yeah. Fine. My name's Nickel, happy?" I deliberately frowned on the last word.

"Quite," she said, beaming even more, "It's nice to make your acquaintance, Nickel."

"Are you this nice to all the Pokémon you harass, or do I just get special treatment?" I asked her in a total deadpan.

"Hey now, good manners don't cost a thing." She turned me over to face her, and scanned me again, that look of puzzlement returning to her features. She glanced back and forth between me and the room, obviously still miffed about some inconsistency.

"Whatever. Now tell me, who are you and what gives you the authority to go around bullying innocent Pokémon like this?"

"First off, I find it prudent to mention that anyone can conduct a citizen's arrest. Anyhow…" she said, eying me with the condescension most people used to address slobbering toddlers. But then she cleared her throat, and stated in a way both proud and friendly:

"My name is Artemis. You obviously don't know me, but if you were to comb the long streets of Lumiose, you would find dozens of my clients, human and Pokémon alike."

"Clients?"

"I've been known to be useful in times of…crisis. In any case, I didn't mean to terribly inconvenience you, but you looked like-"

"Like a crisis in the making?" I guessed. She nodded.

"I was actually here on some business, but I couldn't just sit back while you pranced around the hotel so freely," she said. She glanced into the room one last time, and then turned back to me frowning apologetically. "Of course, now that I've gotten a better look at you, it's become obvious that a pathetic little Zigzagoon like you couldn't _possibly _have done something so destructive and criminal."

"Um…Thanks? Anyway, can you let me down now? This whole weightlessness thing is killing me," I groaned. She obliged, smirking all the while.

" I suppose I should," she said slowly, " since there certainly are other things I ought to take heed of right about now."

"Like what?" I asked. A part of me wasgenuinely curious as to what she was doing here in the first place. It was a gut feeling again. Runa always said to listen to my gut, so hey.

"That is none of your business," she said, a sense of urgency having returned. "It's been a pleasure, Nickel. However, I've wasted a bit too much of my valuable time here, and so, I must bid you fare-"

"Whoa, whoa, hold up! What'cha gonna go do?" I asked. She eyed me suspiciously.

"Client confidentiality agreements don't allow me to answer-"

"Aw c'mon, don't be that way," I interrupted, "Just tell me." The feeling got stronger.

"Why in the world would you care?" she tilted her head slightly.

"Call it curiosity. And hey, you owe me big-time for the whole accidental arrest thing. So spill the beans." She sighed.

"Oh, fine. Though I don't see why any of it matters to you." I made a goofy grin of satisfaction when she agreed. The look on her face in response was priceless, and I found myself smiling even harder. Granted, my huge grin didn't last much longer, since what she said next floored me.

She turned her back to me and walked down the hallway. After a couple of steps, her head swung back and her left eye stared blankly into mine.

"I was commissioned to search for a girl named Runa."


	2. Illusions

**A/N: Oh man, this took me WAAAY too long to get up. And this chapter is comparably short too... dang it. Sorry. My updates are pretty much gonna be crazy unpredictable for a while, so if you're actually reading this and invested in it... first off, thank you, thank you, thank you! Secondly, I'm so, so sorry :(**

**This chapter comes with a different perspective. With that perspective will come certain amounts of rule-bending and ambiguity and a significant amount of profanity. That said, chapters like this might be a bit...unsavory for some. Honestly, I don't see the issue with the content, but others do, so I'll just give a fair warning. Whenever this particular narrator shows up, there WILL be vulgarity. **

**Anyway, Enjoy!**

* * *

><p>If we're all being honest here, then I suppose it's about time I spit it out. It's finally time for me to cast off this dank, ugly shell. It's odd, though. It's been so long since I've shown my true colors. I'm not even sure they exist anymore. Well fuck it, it's worth a shot. Sure as hell better than sitting here and playing pretend for the rest of my life till the end of time…<p>

* * *

><p><em><strong>8:27 PM<strong>_

…

The call came late in the evening.

"Hello? Which one are you?"

"Cut the crap, Morpheus. It's called 'Caller ID'. Use it."

"Fuck you. What do you want?"

"This is Malva. Something's…occurred again, and I want you to come and cover it up."

"Ahaha. Another murder? For a pretty face, you're one sick son of a bitch, Mal. I kid you not."

"And now it's _my_ turn to say 'Fuck You'. Just do your damn job, would you? I'm at the Hotel on North Boulevard."

"I dunno… I'm feelin' pretty lazy right about now.."

"Goddamnit, Morpheus-"

I laughed. "I'm _kidding_. Hold on."

Now, I'm not the kind of long-winded thread-spinner you people might be used to, so don't expect so much silly-ass exposition from me. Just letting you know.  
>The night was cool, brighter than usual. Had to change into a human to not look so suspicious. Fucking hate humans, but damn if they don't make easy-ass disguises.<br>Got to the hotel. Third Floor. Ugly ass room. Looked like a Gyarados used Thrash. Or had a seizure. Who knows? Oh Wait. Maybe she does.

"It took you long enough. Where were you?"

"Shut up. Don't feel like getting any grief from you. Be happy I even showed up. Now then, whaddaya want me to do? And what the hell happened here? Place is a fuckin' mess…"

"Never you mind what exactly occurred. You know why you're here, pay attention to that."

All this back-talk…

"… So where's the body, huh? Not that it really matters. I just like to know…"

For once, she didn't say anything. She pointed to the window. Shattered. Teeny-tiny drips of red on the edge.

I peeped out the window and looked down. I made a low whistle.

"Damn, that's at least thirty feet… right into a shitty little dumpster. Hell of a way to go." I chuckled.

"We're pretty sure this one survived, and managed to run away." She muttered. I snorted.

"Look, I get that you apes like to work out and act like you're actually strong and all, but fact is, not _one _of you squishy bastards could have survived THAT," I said, pointing out the smashed glass and down to the hard earth below.

"I know, but _still!_" She tensed up. Tried not to show it, but I could smell it already. Fear.

"Was this one important?" I asked. Once again, she said nothing. Huh. Guess lightning _can_ strike twice every now and then.

"I-it's nothing. She wasn't important. Besides, the identities are none of your business-"

"Ah, I beg to differ. Malva the menace makes a murderous little mess, I come and do cleanup duty. But I'm not totally heartless, y'know-"

She scoffed loud, and rolled her eyes. Bitch.

"-I like to pay my respects to the dead, even if they _are _shitty humans. You know that. So give me a name. Some history. Lemme tell God to toss her into heaven, huh?"

She looked at me funny. Probably thought I was bullshitting. Damn shame too. I was actually being sincere. That's rare, y'know. She kept giving me the odd eye, brows raised and all, for a full minute before she gave me the facts. Her voice was all sad & quiet like.

"She was my sister…"

"Ouch… My condolences."

She nodded. " She was very pretty, and always so kind. Too kind, sometimes. A little stupid, really."

"At least stupid enough to pick a fight with you, huh?"

She lowered her glasses all menacingly, tried using her eyes to shut me up. Boy, was she pissed.

"What, you gonna kill me too? Go ahead and try." This time, she took the shades completely off, glared deep into my soul just like that bloodthirsty wildcat she called a pet…

It was probably because I just didn't give a fuck at first, but right then I could tell she had been crying. Hard.

I laughed. Good to see the Fire Demon of the Elite Four still had a heart.

"Cool it, Mal. You know I'm just messin' with you. Lemme get this one over with, huh?"

"…Actually, now that you mention the job, there's an added stipulation this time around. I want you to look around for my sister's body. You saw for yourself that it wasn't there." Indeed I did.

"Tracking, huh? That's not _too _far out of my area of expertise… But Mal, you want me to sniff around for someone who's practically already dead? Sounds a little ass-backwards to me."

"I know, I know. Between the hell I put her through and that unbelievable fall… she probably _is _dead. But damn it all… _Probably isn't good enough_!" She looked worried. Didn't try to hide it either. Her voice started to crack a little with her next words.

"I…I honestly hope she isn't dead, but if she is…I need to know. I need to be certain of it." Holy Tauros, she was oozing with guilt. Regret, remorse, you name it.

"…you really didn't mean to hurt her, did you?" She didn't respond, just frowned, shielding her eyes with those rose-colored glasses. I sighed. Of course she didn't…

"So any way, this is a shit-ton of legwork you're puttin' me through, Mal. That's gonna cost extra."

"My God, everything costs extra with you, doesn't it?" And just like that, the angst disappeared, burned away by her short temper. I smirked.

"It's not like you can't afford it. Your family's full of spoiled rich brats. And hey, times are tough. A Mon's gotta make ends meet."

"What sort of blazing nonsense are you spewing now? This is the best our economy's been in years. Those damnable Holo Caster Executives won't stop making me talk about it. It's really not bad at all."

"Hey, when you're a Pokémon, the economy's always bad." I joked. She sighed all exasperated like.

"Whatever. Now get the hell out of here and do as I asked."

"Alright, alright, fine. Oh, but one more thing before I go?" she sighed again.

"Ugh. For a Zoroark that shouldn't even be _capable _of speech, you ask entirely too many questions. Honestly, you're so annoying sometimes that I just wanna burn you alive…"

"Yeah, yeah, love you too. Any way, you never told me the girl's name. Your sister." She started waving me away with her hand, trying to blow me off like some buzzing fly.

"Just go do your job. Does it _really _matter?"

"My _job _is to track someone down. Everything matters." She brushed off what I said with indifference, and settled into an armchair, checking her nails.

"Listen, I doubt that it'll matter that much in the long run. All you need to do is locate her. Or, if it's the worst-case scenario…her body. I can get you a photograph to help in the search," she said. I just stared at her, expectant. She rolled her eyes.

"_But, _if it really makes any difference, her name is Runa."


	3. Clues

**A/N: Hey guys. It's been a while... **

**But I'm back. Sorry for the wait. **

* * *

><p>I just don't get people sometimes. There's always gotta be a secret to keep somewhere. No matter who you are, or what you do, it's like you need to wrestle the truth outta people for days and days just to get somewhere. And even then, you're not getting a straight answer. Runa always used to say that it's best to be honest and truthful with people. I mean yeah, she can be a <em>total<em> hypocrite sometimes…but that not the point! What I'm saying is, we struggle to put on these masks and facades… like we can't just be who we actually are and be cool with that. Every time we lie and deceive, we think it's covering something or someone else. Like we can try and disguise anything. Truth is, we're the ones who're hiding. From everything.

* * *

><p><strong>Disappearance, 2nd File<strong>

I couldn't really figure out how to respond to that, so I just sorta yelled the first thing that came to mind.

"WHAAAT?!"

Artemis jumped back like a frightened Buneary, letting out a small gasp. The look on her face was priceless.

"W-what in the world-"

"You know Runa?!" I might've been just a _little_ more amped up than Artemis was ready for. Taking a quick second to gain back some composure, she forced out a reply.

"Well, yes, in a manner of-"

"Woohoo!"

"…speaking." She spat out that last thing with a bucket-load of condescension. I didn't really care though. I was just too psyched. I mean, there I was, worrying my butt off about Runa, and suddenly I bump into someone that actually knows who she is! I hadn't been aware of it at the time, but I started grinning like crazy. Artemis stared me down for a quick second before doing a polite cough, probably to get my attention. That funny look she gave me had a hint of something else in it too. She seemed…intrigued.

"I suppose it would be fair to say that you know of this Runa person as well?"

"Know her? Hell, she's my trainer. Of course I do!" Artemis nodded her head.

"I figured as much. This is a bit surprising, but definitely in a positive way. Now then," she said, squatting down in front of me, "make my life a little easier and tell me where she is." Her eyes gazed deep into mine, on fire with a sudden and kinda disturbing curiosity. It was a little creepy.

"Uh…actually, I…I don't know." The intensity of her look was just spooking the hell outta me. I didn't think Gardevoir could learn Glare…

"Don't know?" her expression changed from fear-inducing to innocently confused in a split-second. What was with this chick?

"Yeah. We walked here to the hotel together, but then she left me out front. I took a nap for a little while, and when I woke up, she was long gone." I couldn't help but get a little quiet at the end. Artemis nodded slowly.

"I see. So while you were preoccupied with your snoozing, she ditched you..."

"She didn't ditch me!" I yelled. "Runa wouldn't do something like that. Something's wrong here. She's gotta be in trouble!"

Artemis raised an eyebrow.

"Uh huh. Sure. And about how long would you say you were asleep?"

"Um…around four hours maybe?" I said. She nodded her head real fast this time, and stood back up. She started pacing back and forth, eyes closed in concentration.

"Hmm…" was about all she said for the next minute or so. She went back and forth, and back and forth, and back and forth and…geez, it started to drive me crazy. Still, I figured she needed some thinking space, so I just sat back for a sec with my own thoughts. It was really quiet and awkward for a minute there, but then one of my thoughts popped itself up and was all like, "Hey, remember that thingie from before? You should totally show it to her!" So I did. I ran back into the thrashed hotel room and looked around. All that sudden movement from me must've caught Artemis's attention though, because she yelled after me.

"Hey, where are you going?! NO! Don't go in the room! You can't just tamper with…ugh. Nevermind." It was too late. The damage was done. I had already been in there and back again, holding Runa's bag between my teeth. With a sigh, she closed her eyes and massaged her temples.

"Whad joo shay?" It is _really _hard to say words with half a messenger bag stuck in your mouth.

"Not that it really _matters _anymore, but we're not technically allowed to _tamper with a crime scene!" _She finished off that statement with a deep frown.

"Oops." I dropped the bag onto the floor with a splat, it clearly soaked with my saliva.

Artemis looked a little queasy. She slowly picked the bag back up with her psychic mind power stuff, deliberately lifting the part that wasn't leaking fluid.

"How charming."

"You really think so?" I asked.

"But, of course," she said with a half-smirk, "I've always wanted a grungy, beat-up messenger bag covered in 'goon spit."

"You're welcome!" I said. She gave me this weird look.

"…"

"What?"

"…you don't know what sarcasm is, do you?"

"Huh? What's a sarcasm? Oh wait, I get it! You mean like _the_ Sar Chasm, like a place with a huge hole in the ground, right? Where is that?!" I asked.

"…wow."

Artemis shook her head. With a little chuckle, she walked into the ravaged room. I followed her in.

"While that _was _quite amusing," she said, turning back to me," I believe this is the part where I must ask you to leave, Nickel."

"Wait, what?"

"You heard me right. This is a crime scene, for lord's sake. Neither one of us should even be here, by legal standards. But you've already gone and moved something, and now _this _piece of evidence is ruined." She let go of Runa's bag, and when it hit the floor, you could _hear _the wetness of my spit making contact with the carpet. Gross.

"I know that you don't mean any harm. But to be frank, you're useless to me. Especially since you don't know where your trainer is. I need you out of here. Now."

"Aw c'mon, Artemis. Don't be that way! I think I can help you!" I put on the most confident smile I could, but she just scoffed.

"I_ highly _doubt that. This is _my _assignment and I can handle this on my own."

"Oh yeah? Well I still think if we worked together-hey! Are you even listening?!" She wasn't even listening! Artemis started looking all around the room, pretty much scanning over some stuff but then totally focusing in on some of the other details. I could tell by how her eyes would widen a bit whenever something caught her eye. She eyeballed this one broken window for a long time there until finally sticking her head out and looking down. After a minute of this, she settled into a chair and nodded all slow-like.

"You could've at least waited until I finished talking." I said. She shook her head briskly.

"Oh, no way. Now that would have _truly _been a waste of time."

Ouch. Man, she really doesn't pull punches.

"So what was all that about anyway?" I asked. I wanted to sound mad, a little miffed at least. But nope, I was just too curious, y'know?

"While you were blathering on about one thing or another, I decided to look about the place and gather clues as to what exactly occurred here."

"Ooh, yeah? What'd you sniff out?"

"Well, I honestly can't scrape up much. For one, the horrid amount of damage caused here indicates that Pokémon had to be involved. Humans could have pulled off some of this carnage, but imagine all the trouble they'd need to go to. There are holes in the ceiling, for lord's sake."

"Yeah, I figure the same. Humans are tough, but not this tough."

"And then there's the burn marks over on the bed."

"Huh? What about 'em?"

"It strikes me as odd that those burns look distinctly different from _those _over on the floor. The floor-marks look randomly strewn about, and not nearly as jagged and zigzagged as the ones on the bed." She made little hand gestures while she spoke, trying to get the idea across better. I eyeballed the scorch marks she mentioned and suddenly, my nose twitched.

"Huh…that's weird. Hold on a sec." I moved my face closer to one of the floor burns. Artemis had that curious look in her eye again.

"What is it?" she tried (and failed) to sound nonchalant. After a quick second I looked up at her.

"Yeah, I figured as much. Something doesn't smell right around here. Literally."

"What? What's wrong with the burns?" Her head tilted to the side.

"Nothing, actually. It's totally cool. These burn marks actually smell burnt, so that's just normal. Thing is, the ones on the bed smell _way _different." Artemis went a little wide-eyed when I said that.

"T-they do?"

"Yeah, totally! I noticed that they smelled pretty off a little while ago. In fact, those bed burns are probably the source of that funky smell that's all over the place."

"Funky smell…?"

Did she really have no idea what I was talking about?

"Um, _yeah! _This place smells weirder than a high school bathroom! Can't you tell?"

Artemis looked away.

"Hello? Earth to Artemis?"

She didn't answer.

"What is it? What's up?" I started to pester her a little.

"Nothing."

"Liar!"

"It's nothing! Can we change the subject?" She crossed her arms. I was genuinely confused, so I decided to give this whole 'thinking' thing another try.

"Why wouldn't you have noticed the stink that's all over this place? This stuff is really strong. We're talking about some super heavy funk here."

"And? What does it matter?" She sounded all defensive. It didn't make sense to me. It's not like _she's _where the smell's coming from. It's definitely from that crispy queen-size over in the corner. So why…

"I mean, it doesn't make a whole lotta sense, y'know? The only way you couldn't smell _that _stuff would be if…" And then it hit me. My mouth opened into one of those perfect circular O-shapes. She saw my expression and went red.

"Don't-"

"You can't smell!"

"…say it." She sighed. She took a deep breath.

"Yes. You're right. I can't smell a thing. And I'm not too crazy about that fact either, so can we just move on? Lord, this goon is getting on my nerves…"

I just kept gawking at her.

"You can't smell."

"Yes."

"You…can't smell."

"I think we've covered this already."

"You _literally _can't smell!"

"My God, Nickel!" She started getting red in the face all over again.

"So what if I can't smell? It is _not _that big of a deal."

"_Not a big deal?! _Do you hear yourself? Man, I couldn't imagine even a day without my nose!" I said. Granted, that turned out to be a total lie, because I imagined it at that very moment.

…

It was a sad moment for me.

"Look, just shut up, okay?! It doesn't matter whether or not I can catch the odor from some trashy mattress!" she said. But in that moment, her eyes widened a little and the embarrassment faded fast.

"And speaking of the aforementioned bed, what _exactly_ is so off about its smell?" And she's right back into serious mode.s

"Well actually, I was kinda exaggerating a little. The smell isn't all that bad. It's just sorta weird."

"Elaborate."

"Well…if I had to describe it, I guess I'd say that it smells a lot like how batteries taste."

"Batteries?" her eyes narrowed.

"Yeah, batteries! Ever lick a nine volt? That stuff is crazy!" I said. Artemis sized me up.

"Why would you _ever… _you know what? I don't even care." She started massaging her temples, but then caught something.

"Hold on. Batteries?" She turned towards the bed, and started slowly nodding her head.

"Jagged burns…the smell of 'batteries'…yes. I suppose it makes some sense. There seems to have been an electric-type at work here."

"An electric-type Pokémon?"

"Yes. But what does that mean…?" She stepped towards the bloody windowsill and gazed out past the shattered glass. She got real quiet.

I stepped back and let her have the space. There had definitely been something off about all of this, but it was hard to make heads or tails of any of that crap. Looking back, I was lucky to have Artemis with me. I mean yeah, she acted pretty sour, but she definitely seemed way smarter than me. The more I wondered about Runa, the more lost I got. It's probably because there'd been so much that was hard to sort out, y'know? Where the heck was Runa? What the heck happened in this room? And why was Artemis throwing a tiny temper tantrum? Wait, what?

"Shoot!" She slammed her fist into the wall with a lot more force than her looks would have you assume.

"…Ow." She gently rubbed her knuckles.

"What's wrong?" I asked. She just looked so disappointed.

"I'm stuck," she said, sighing. "All these days of trying again and again to find this stupid girl, and I'm stuck. I can't figure out what to do next with the intel I've already received, and instead of clearing things up, all of the clues in here just raise more questions. Ugh!" She grabbed a handful of her green hair and pulled. Hard. I winced.

"Look, don't beat yourself up, okay? Runa always told me that it's pointless trying to beat yourself up or knock yourself down. So don't go shoving yourself around…in any direction!"

"Cute words. But those are words that I can't afford to use right now. Right now, your Trainer is out there somewhere, probably grievously injured if not outright _dead _considering the condition of this room. Let's drop the optimism and pick up some realism, shall we? And what's real and true is that I have no idea what to do next…_ugh!" _she frowned deeply. I was silent.

We sat there in silence, both wanting a minute to think. Artemis' words worried me a lot, and I really wasn't sure how to stomach them. I really didn't know what to do next either. As far as I could tell, the trail ended cold here…

Hold on.

"Whatever happened to witnesses, huh? All this carnage and you're tellin' me not a single person heard any of this? No way, man. There's gotta be _somebody _who heard the noise."

"Try again, goon. There shouldn't have been anyone in this building except for that guard out front. And as you probably saw when you snuck your way up here, even he isn't exactly vigilant tonight." Something about the way she said that last part was just totally sour.

"Hold up. Why wouldn't anyone be here? I mean, it's a hotel. Having people hang around late at night is how they make their dough, right?"

"That's …true enough. And I suppose it could be said that Hotel Richissime hasn't made _any _dough as of late."

"Huh?"

"Lately, the entire northern half of the city has endured some serious power shortages. One minute, everything would be fine, but the next, a whole block goes black. With all the potential accidents to occur with randomly dying lights and elevators, and the inability to serve their famously extravagant room service, Richissime's owners found it better to send their clientele elsewhere for the time being."

"So that means nobody's here…" I slumped to the ground. Geez, we really did hit a dead end.

"Unfortunately…yes." She fell back into an armchair and closed her eyes. I sighed. This was all gettin' pretty annoying by this point. All these crap clues we got lyin' around here, and not a damn thing points to where Runa could be. It drove me a little nuts just thinking about it. I looked over the room one more time, not willing to throw in the towel yet. But there wasn't much to see. Same huge holes, burn marks, wrecked furniture, you get the idea. I shifted my gaze over to the broken window. Thoughts came to me, imagining whether Runa blasted her way through it, or if someone tossed her limp body through the glass…oh man. The teensy red stains on the sides didn't help. The red was so noticeable too, dotted against the white paint. Red…

Hold the phone.

"There WAS someone here!" I shot up and scampered over to Artemis. She looked at me with an expression sitting somewhere between annoyance and pity.

"What are you going on about, goon? I already told you, there's no chance a customer-"

"No, listen to me for a sec! I know for a fact that there was at least ONE person up here before we got here. I ran right into them on the way up!"

"You what?!" Artemis jumped to her feet, eyes focused on me.

" Yeah! I was rushing to get to the third floor when I accidently bumped into this girl. I didn't mean to hit her or anything, so I apologized, but she just kept on going, like I didn't even exist or something! I mean, that's kinda rude, don'tcha-"

"Nickel, focus. You're getting off track. Give me a physical description."

"Oh. Well uh…She was young. Yeah, probably a twenty-something. She seemed to be around Runa's height, maybe a little taller…so she might've been, I dunno, 5'6, 5'7 maybe? It's hard to tell."

"What was she wearing?"

"That's the thing. I remember her being decked out in a _ton _of red."

At the last word, Artemis's eyes widened.

"Red…well then. I think that's about all I'll be needing." She closed her eyes, and after a moment, a smug grin crept up her cheek.

"Yes. At least now I've got an idea of where to go."

"Whoa, you've got a lead?!" She nodded once, and headed out the door.

"Thankfully, yes. I would say that it's been a pleasure, Nickel, but that'd be a flat-out lie. Farewell."

"Hold on a minute! I'm coming with ya!" I said. She turned back, chuckling a bit.

"Oh, _no_ you're not. This is _my _job, and I refuse to have to babysit some silly mongrel while I do it."

"Aw, c'mon. Don't be that way! I could help." I looked up into her eyes with the best determined face I could muster up. She looked back incredulous.

"_Don't be that way? _Nickel, do you remember what happened when you tried to 'help' ten minutes ago? You irreversibly wrecked a piece of evidence without even batting an eye!"

"H-hey man, accidents happen!" I said. Artemis threw her hands up in the air.

"Accidents happen, he says…ugh." She walked over to me and squatted down low, almost getting to eye level. Then she took a slow, deep, deliberate breath.

"Nickel."

"Yes?"

"Let me make this…_very _clear. I. Work. _Alone_." She stared daggers into me the whole time she spoke. I recoiled a little at first, but then I got all up in her face.

"Not today! I'm coming along whether you like it or not!" I tried making a menacing face. Not too sure if it worked or not.

"Nickel…If I bring you along with me, I genuinely believe that my chances of finding Runa are going to be dismally low-"

"At least you'll _have_ a chance! There's no way you'd find her without me!" I said. Her eyes widened.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"All these clues you've found so far, It's all because I've been trying to help! Like if I didn't grab the bag, you wouldn't have known that Runa had even _been _in that room!" I said. I looked her right in the eye.

She looked away.

"And this new lead you've got. I dunno what's so special about the girl that you'd figure out what to do next, but you wouldn't have even _known _about that if I never told ya!"

This time, she bit her lip.

"And those burn marks with the wacky smells going on. The fact that there was an electric type in the room might be an important clue, but if I never mentioned the stench in there, you would _never _have guessed that, because…You. Cant. Sme-"

"_Alright, alright, I get it! _Geez…" She was beet red.

"Good! Now that we've come to an understanding, let's go already!" I scampered down the hall before Artemis could tell me otherwise.

"You can't just-Hey!Nickel!"

I ran down the stairs and back out the building like a bolt of lightning. I was more determined than ever to find her, and now I even had a partner backing me up.

Don't worry. We're gonna find you, Runa.


End file.
